As defined by Webster’s, ” An ideal worthy of imitation, a model to be followed, a representative sample.”  To an angler, it’s the art of finding fish, catching them a specific way, then duplicating the process generating the same results. Developing detailed and productive patterns, is what separates the most consistent anglers, with the rest of us. The anglers that you see, who consistently do well in tournaments, they understand patterning fish. Those guys who seem to always catch the big ones, not limited to but including the “trophy hunters”, fully understand and follow the process of patterning big fish. This week, I experienced a great example of this that I’ll share with my fellow anglers.

First and foremost, one fish does not a pattern make. Remember, a patterm is a sample model of what we need to duplicate. Paying attention to the details of every aspect of what happened when ya caught that first or last fish, is so critical to the “duplication” process. If ya don’t store the data of what just happened, yer not gonna be able to recall and duplicate the process. Generally, once you’ve caught yer second or third fish, by duplicating the same process, NOW, you have a pattern that you can follow the rest of your day.

There is one exception I apply to this general rule, and that involves the pursuit and tracking down of giant River bass here on the Delta. This applies specifically to fish 7 pounds and above here. I don’t wait for that second and third fish to decide I’ve found a pattern. The instant I catch that first one over 7 pounds, I’m soaking in and analyzing the data on how, where and what I did to catch that fish.  That one fish, just clued me in on what I need to look for the rest of my day, to have the best shot at catching multiple fish of that size. If I’m by myself or fun fishing with a buddy, I’ll run this river looking for that pattern and one big bite all day. If I’m with clients, I will be certain that I am fishing areas where this pattern is available, yet also in areas where numbers of fish can be caught using other various patterns.

As an example, this past week, I discovered a key pattern that we have been able to use to catch five fish, in three outings, between 7 lb 15oz and 9lb 4oz. These have all been “pre-spawn” fish, who have either just moved into shallow spawning flats, or they actually came up, started the process of spawning, yet were driven off by the recent cold snap & winds. This is the first key to this pattern, LOCATION. You must be in prime areas, where these big fish are comming out of a main river channel into a spawning flat.

The second key is ISOLATION. During the spawn, these big fish are loaners. They’ve been thru this process before and will not be performing their annual ritual with the crowds. They will be where you least expect them, yet where they are sitting, is so obvious. When not on the bed, they are sitting in the hallway to the bedroom. What this means in this case,  isolated cover. Specifically, a tule patch no bigger than yer boat, out in the middle of nowhere. She’s not sitting up there in the big flat tule grove where yer pounding away at 2-5 pounders, she’s outa sight and outa mind.

The third key for this pattern has been her POSITION. These fish have all been strategically positioned on that tule cover. First and foremost, they have been right on the point of the tule patch. More importantly, it’s the point opposite of where the bedroom is. This is typically a little deeper or is the closest side of the point to the deeper route she has taken up into the shallow flat.

The forth and final key is PRESENTATION. You have got to be precise on your first cast. Ya can’t over cast and have yer bait plowing into the tule stocks. You will never catch her if yer bait falls a foot or more short of her position. She is tucked right in the edge of this tule point. Hit the stalks above her, she’ll bolt. Fall short in yer cast, yer bait is never in her strike zone. Bait selection for me has been a weightless 9L Senko rigged Texas style. Color choice is 208 or 925.

This particular pattern has been money the past five days. We have had 8 giant bites when coming across this situation in our daily travels. Of those 8, we have been able to put five of those giant bass in the boat. Rest assured, this IS NOT, the only pattern ta use on these bigger fish here right now. There are others you may have stumbled on, but have failed to recognize. Not all isolated tule patches like this have had a big bass on it, there just aren’t that many big bass to be on every patch we find. Yet, my pattern for this week, is surely as Webster defines it, A sample model, worthy of duplication!

Yeah, it’s May 1st and we are still asking ourselves this question about our River bass. I can’t imagine what must be going thru the minds of  these bass. Their whole life cycle evolves around them coming shallow and reproducing. May, 2012, is probably gonna be one of the best Mays Delta anglers have ever experienced.  With the ever changing weather of March & April, the vast majority of the fish here have yet to move up and do their annual duty. The past two months has been a crazy challenge for Delta anglers, myself included.  I personally love this challenge. I can’t recall a time, where we’ve had fish stuck here in a two month Winter transition to Pre-spawn staging mode. Up down, up down, up down, it’s been a crazy roller coaster ride in targeting this year’s spring time bass here.

In as much, especially as a guide, that I love that easy, full blown spawning bite here, as a die hard black bass angler, I love those challenging times more. It’s how I learn. Yes, after almost 40 years of fishing this Delta, I learned more new in depth things about these bass here, in the Spring of 2012, than I have at any other time here. I have stumbled onto a number of new patterns and ways ta catch fish, that I never used before. All because I said back in January, Cooch, ya need ta follow that KISS thought process, Keep It Simple Stupid. I’ve followed and preached two concepts to everyone I get in the boat with to date.

The first is “Fish the moment”. Too many times we find ourselves doing the same thing over and over, and the results is the same, tough fishing. Too many times we pound it in our heads and convince our brains there are fish here, because we caught em here last week, last month, last year, 5 years ago. Today, I am quick to pull the RED ONE on my trolling motor and move on. The “cheese” ain’t here taday Cooch.

The second thing I’ve come ta grips with and preach every single day, If ya ain’t getting bit or seein’ fish up there, they gotta be back out here. This concept alone, understanding it, and following it daily, allows me to not get caught up in what “I think” the fish should be doing, but go figure out what “The fish” indeed are doing”. Fish the moment.

May is going to be our first big Spawning month here, The water temps have stabilized in the mid to upper 60s, even to 70-72 in some select areas. I actually on Sunday, spotted several huge schools of bass fry hanging round some grass beds  on the low tide. I saw a few very large, empty beds out in the middle of the slough, protected by massive weed beds. A big girl’s bedroom no doubt, out where nobody is gonna find and disrupt her process. Now, I’ll jump on the band wagon, those fry are the telling sign, The Spawn is indeed on!

It’s still not happening everywhere, but it is happening and it’s only gonna become more evident as the days of May pass. That Yamamoto Senko has been a fish catcher, as has the Iovino S20 & S20W and Zippers. Ya can still catch Jig, crankbait and vibrating jig fish, the reaction bite is really good on windy days. But it is plastics time here on the River. And don’t overlook the topwater bite! My Grandson Gio got one ta come up a smack his custom buzzer I built for him with an Ish’s Phattie. Wakers, buzzers, poppers and hollow bodies, are all gonna come into play as bass are out there protecting fry. I still have plenty of open dates in May if you are interested in experiencing this amazing springtime bite here on the Delta for 2012.

Yet another high pressure cold snap has hit the Delta area this week. Past three days have been cold, clear skies and windy. Not only has the average water temps dropped some, but the winds have dirtied up the system with the low tides and lack of full weed growth in most areas. This has definitely caused them shallow roaming bass to back off and go hunker in the weeds off the bank and back out on the 5-8 foot ledges. The winds have rotated from the SE to West and North every day. Finding calm areas to fish the right patterns has been very difficult. Finding productive areas with  acceptable wind conditions is wide spread, yet we’ve been forced to find new areas each day due to the constant directional changes with the winds. We’ve had to make adjustments, slow down and work the outer edges.  The past three days the fish have stopped attacking that 9X Senko and are not recklessly chasing down the cranks and Claymores(Vibrating Jigs) like the previous week.

This recent weather pattern change has worked well for me,  as the jig bite has come back for us the past few days. One big adjustment I had to make was changing my pork trailer to a Zoom Super Chunk plastic trailer. The past few days, I’ve continued to try and force feed em that Jig-n-pig, give up after 30 minutes and go right back to the Jig-n-Zoom chunk and catch those nice fish again.  Not only are we finding an off the bank jig bite,  we’re starting to get  some nice fish, especially in dirty water areas, flippen right on the tules. The T-rigged Zipper bite has began to kick in for me as well down in the grass. Gotta fish it slow, as bites are not coming on the fall, but as we pull that bait off and thru the grass, strikes are indeed violent, so be prepared ta whack em at all times, can’t relax, cause that’s when they’ll snap yer bait.

As good as the reaction bite was last week for bigger fish, the past few days all we’re seeing is dinks on a regular basis. We have managed a few fish in that 5-6 pound range working the cranks out over deeper grass beds on the low tides, but these bites have been few and far between for us. Water temps have come down again, 55-57 first thing in most areas, with afternoon temps between 57-59 degrees. We did find a few isolated areas late in the day hovering at 60-61, but these were gin clear, shallow, flat protected back water areas where no signs of fish presence could be seen.

It’s still a grind out there. Even with these weather changes, we’ve manage to catch 20-25 pounds each day by adjusting and grinding it out. With these crazy weather patterns, you MUST fish “the moment”. You can not rely on what ya did last week, last year or years past to consistently catch fish right now. Think about the bass’ migration from winter to spawning areas and try to figure out where they are hunkered. Those fish are not where we want them ta be in the spring yet. You’ll have plenty of time and great fishing when that period takes place here. Until then, stop looking for spawning fish, you’ll have far better success than those who are and whinin bout “tough fishin” right now!

A large group of big bass made their way up onto shallow ledges and grass flats last week. Most anglers were too shallow and got misled by the many virgin bucks they saw moving into spawning areas and starting their nests.This was evident in the FLW event here this weekend as the catch ratio and weights tailed off each day as the weather deteriorated. The cold temps and winds of Saturday, Sunday & Monday have once again drove these big fish back off of their shallow migration. The three Delta Rats who finished 1, 2 & 3 in this event, understood clearly what was happening and targeted these transitioning fish with three consistent days of fishing. Congrats to Brian Carpenter, Phil Dutra and Charley Almassy on their 1,2,3 finishes and a great tournament.

The giant Delta bass in the 4-12 pound range are not quite ready to spawn yet. They are though hangin out in pre-stage areas in depths of 6-12 feet where ya find the good grass clumps. Much of the river’s vegetation has been pruned away by the cold winter, this is good for the delta anglers in that it makes it much easier to target these pre-staging fish by finding the right grass conditions where they are now set up.  Jigs and bulky Texas rigged plastics are an excellent choice to use in targeting these deeper fish. A 7″ 9X Senko is also a great option while these bigger bass are in a gorging mode right now. All three of these options are working on all phases of the tides, you just need to adjust your boat position and get out deeper where these fish are hunkered. On the low tides, turn to shallow running cranks in red and chartreuse, slowly retrieving them through the avenues of the new weed growth clumps.

Water temps in many areas are now hitting 60 degrees and above, yet as of yesterday a lot of the Delta had dropped back down again into the mid to upper 50s. Don’t over look the start of a big topwater bite. Buzzbaits and spooks can be a good early spring option here to start with. Once ya git yer first top water fish, put em away and start slingin them big wake baits for these river giants will start smashin it. Don’t be misled by all the dock talk of bedding fish, the ones that are up, are not the ones that will be coming in the following weeks. This next week with the full moon approaching, we’re probably gonna see that first break out, big fish slug fest we’ve all been waiting for. I still have plenty of open dates in the comming weeks if you are looking to experience and catch these transition big river bass, call me! I will also clue you into where to look for them as we indeed begin moving into a our first major spawn here. Good luck out there and Keep a tight Line!

This past week, the Delta bass have made their first big move into pre-spawn areas. I think a lot of guys have the misconception that the fish have gone on beds, this is truly not the case here right now. As a few anglers are reporting seeing isolated fish in some back areas who indeed have come up, built a nest and courted a female, I’ve seem a few myself, but I’ve also seen those same bass gone the very next day. It’s not happening yet, but it will soon, Don’t be misled by all the dock talk. Average water temps here is still only 57-59 degrees and it’s only been this way for the past few days, not nearly long enough to mature eggs in the females and get the bucks up ready ta go. In most cases, were seeing a number of them first time horny lil guys who don’t have the love experience of the seasoned bass here. Remember, a few isolated bass on beds, does not a pattern make.

There are though in many areas, a lot of big fish on the move shallow. These fish are moving in and gorging themselves on any thing that moves. They move in in packs and get out. I think a lot of anglers here are looking in all the wrong places and still struggling here, this was evident by Thursday’s FLW weights, the bite is a lot better than what the weights show. A few anglers git it and are scratching out good limits, while most have struggled all week. I believe today’s weights are gonna soar and you are not gonna wanna miss today’s weigh-in.

We’ve experienced some amazing fishing with clients all week, we are not looking for bedding fish, but in fact fish that are on the move. Pay attention to your barometer and morning temps, this will help you to determine and decide what ta throw and where ta look for fish out in the grass beds leading to the spawning areas. The bite has busted loose here and if yer struggling ta figure it out or just want to experience some of the best fishing this River has ta offer, call me, I’ve got plenty of open space and on some days am getting guys out with less than 24 hours notice like today’s clients that called me last nite. Good luck out there guys!

Danny Miller, of Miller Built Products, who brought us the ingenious Miller Punchin’ Weight, has designed a brand new product soon to be released that will forever resolve broken trolling motor cords, I am very excited to introduce and share with you, the “RED ONE”. The cable system will be available for both Motor Guide and MinnKota trolling motors.

Trolling motor cables have a very short life in the world of an active bass fisherman. They seem to break at the most inopportune time, are an extreme pain in the arse to replace as well as time consuming, especially when on the water and in ugly conditions. Danny has designed a cable made from 100% air craft grade stainless steel. The cable is coated with an extremely durable material used in exercise equipment, to provide ease of movement and protection from rusting. The stock handle is made from ABS white plastic and is extremely durable. There is also a solid aluminum upgrade handle available. I was amazed at how easy it was to install on my MG Gator Mount. It took me longer to untie the old rope knot at the pully bar, than the entire installation of the new cable.  Also included in the kit is a monogrammed strap for those who want to anchor the handles when not in use.

After using it for a day, I noticed one other advantage. Unlike when using the standard ropes, there is no stretch of give in this cable system. When you pull, it unlocks that motor bracket. For years, on every MG bracket I’ve ever used, I have to step on the bracket to put pressure on it to release the pulley lock. This, is the process that has ALWAYS caused my cables to break in the past. No longer, the RED ONE, resolves this problem for me.  I no longer have to worry about stepping on the mount to release my t-motor where I might break the cord, or worse, stumble and fall over board.

Look for more to come on how YOU can get your Miller “Red One” soon. Awesome Danny, absolutely awesome!

Today was one of the many reminders why I’m so blessed to be able to fish for a living. In as much as the fishing can make or break a day, more often than not I get the chance to meet up with and spend the day with some of the most quality people on this planet, who like myself,  just love to spend the day on the water enjoying life’s quality moments. Today was one of those days and it started out like any other. Well, not really since my clients Oscar & David decided they wanted to forgo the tough, chilly morning bite right now and meet up with me at 11:00a and git out for some of that exceptional afternoon fishing we’ve been experiencing as of late.  Little did I know coming in, who I was getting the chance to spend the day with.

Turns out, Oscar is Oscar Roan, former tight end of the Cleveland Browns back in the mid seventies. I had my first chuckle when he stated, “Yeah, my claim to fame is I was the tight end in town up until Ozzie Newsome walked into camp, and was the first one out the door!” Today, Oscar is a pastor and runs, along with his wife, a christian ministry that travels across the country working with prison cell mates and the Salvation Army. His buddy David whom he broght along works with the local Salvation Army ministries in the San Jose area. Oscar lives in Texas and fishes a number of lakes there and decided he and his California trout buddy David, needed to spend a day on the California Delta.

I get us down to our start area and with the dirty water and slight breeze decide to get em both tossing crank baits. Oscar catches a small keeper on his very first cast tossin a red Timber Tiger. David had the mojo goin though with his Chartreuse/Blue Bomber and caught 4 small 1-2 pounders before we moved to another area. The whole time I had David up front tossin the Bomber out deep and Oscar inside crankin the red on the rocks. I was in the middle pitchin my jig up to the bank looking for that big bonanza jig bite so as to git em off the cranks, on this day that jig bite never transpired.

Bout the time Oscar started to harass me and my no fish catchin jig,  David rears up on a fish right under the boat. Oh my, it’s a Delta Dandy! After a really nice tussle we hoist a fat, chunky 6 pound river bass into the boat. Okay, here we go fellas, it’s gonna git ugly now! Well it got ugly alright, to the tune of 300 yards and nary another bite. We moved back out to the front where the water was stained more and caught another small keeper.

At this point it was about 3:30 and the tide was climbing to the peak of the incoming and I told em it was time we got down on the tulle islands and started to fish real big bass baits. I pulled out my two broom sticks with the MS Slammers tied on.  High cloudy skies, 55.4 water temps, top of the tide, oh this just seems so right. It took a short spell for them to get adjusted to chucking these big baits and not be plowin em up into the tulles. I pointed to one cut between two clumps and told Oscar ta cast that thing all the way up into that bay, bring it out slowly, that fish is sitting right out in the open off that lil tulle point! Kawoooosh! Just love it when they play the game I tell em too! Unfortunately, this was not one of the Delta’s big beastly wake bait eatin fish, but a two pounder not much bigger than the Slammer. 45 minutes later we have not had any other takes and the sun was dipping behind Mt Diablo to the west. Time ta call it fellas, got a fairly long ride home and it’s gonna git chilly & dark fast.

Great day fishin with Oscar & David. We boated most every fish that bit, 9-10 keepers over a 5 hour period with a 6 pound kicker is good day.  We may not have caught a boat full of chunks, but the time on the water with these two was very special for all of us today. A blessed day for me introducing two new bass anglers to the California Delta. Looking forward to our trip in the spring!

It’s just amazing to see what a couple of storms can do for the bite on this fishery. Toss in a stable temp range that is now climbing 50-54 degrees, a massive blue bird wind storm that dirties the waters and you have the perfect conditions that  drive these bass here into their Winter to Spring transition. Large groups of 4-8 pound bass are on the move here.  It’s not happening all over the Delta yet, as I’ve spent countless hours the past two weeks in excellent areas where they haven’t showed up yet. Yet I have found a number of isolated areas where they indeed are very active.

This has been evident with a number of the tournaments here this past weekend. On Saturday, a couple of 22-24 pound weights took top honors, yet the rest of the field was not quite successful. We stayed in one area Saturday, the first 5 hours only produce two small keepers, yet from 1:00p to 3:00p we managed 7 bites and put over 30 pounds in the boat on jigs and a blade. Sunday was tougher on the blue bird, we bounced around a lot and managed to only  catch two  six pounders. Then we get word a 40+ sack won the Hook, there was also a 35 and 32 pound weights . The rest of the field, didn’t share in that success.  Word has it though from the reports, these top 3 teams all stayed in one area to catch their fish, they just waited em out and were rewarded.

This has been how fishing here was all week, run around in the morning looking for that new group, then camp on em fer the remainder of the day. Some are out on the ledges, others up on the flats, one common factor is, no current. These fish are very aggressive, ya gotta be on point and ready. They will in a heart beat grab yer bait and instantly head out under the boat back to their deeper sanctuary. That deeper place, seems to be for me around 8-14 feet and that’s where I’m keeping my boat right now.

Don’t get too excited and over react. I’ve had a lot of guys contact me, speak to me on the water and query  about the spawn, is it here? Hell no it ain’t here, git that thought out of yer head! Average water temp all over this River is still only 52-53 degrees, we’re a long ways away from thinkin about spawning patterns. This is Winter transition, some of the best fishin this Delta has to offer. The big gurls are on the move, there will be plenty of time in April & May to focus on shallow, spawning, easy ta catch fish. Right now, it’s about hungry, on the move, 4-10 pound females who have a bigger appetite than they will have at any other time of the year!

Don’t ya just love it, when ya change yer mind on a hunch first thing and go to a different spot, thinkin I got the perfect tide right now, only ta go 2 hours with out a bite. The go back to your original spot, catch 4 fish on the first pass and realize after it’s too late, Damn, that perfect tide, was for THIS spot! This happens to me 8 of 10 times I do that, I hate fishless mornings! But damn, that 9th & 10th time, is always a good move! Thank God I ain’t a baseball player, they’d fire me with a .200 avg! Then again, they might give me millions! HAR!

Thank God I didn’t catch a bass on my first cast with an Umbrella Rig! I’da got hung up on it for life like I did with a Jitterbug, Red Bomber, 208 Senko and Brown Jig! Not ta mention go broke buying the rigs and all those damn hooks & swimbaits! HAR!

So after a full day of fishing in the wind and current, I’m beat as I pull up to my dock. Attach all three lanyards, trim the motor out of the water, take all the pork off my jigs and store em safely, as well as my PFD & 5 rods in their locker, yes today I lock it, pump out the bilge, collect and dispose of empty water bottles, chip bags and used plastics, grab the cell, keys and e-smokers, hoist up the boat and head in fer some dinner. Only ta realize 10 minutes ago as I plug in my rechargeable batteries for the e-smoker, CRAP!!!!!!!! DOOD, ya forgot the most important thing on the boat, the batteries!! Guess I’m hangin out in the back yard today! HAR! HAR! HAR!

I personally think the petition to ban the A-rig is a noble one. There could be those who might claim it’s a senseless and silly thought process, it’s just a lure with multiple hooks and baits. But therein lies the problem, it is indeed a rig of multiple lures. In reality it’s a smaller version of a down rigger, who’s specific use for ages, has been used by saltwater fishermen for trolling, which by the way is an illegal form of catching fish in bass tournaments. The A-rig, is not a lure by any definition other than that of the wide array of opinions by many. It’s a rig, that allows you to attach many lures to present to fish. The lures that an angler can attach to this rig, is limitless, whether it be 3-5 swimbaits, grubs, Senkos, crankbaits, ripbaits, jigs, chatterbaits. This rig, allows you to attach multiple lures. If you remove ALL the lures, the A-rig is nothing at all.

Using such a rig to catch fish, on any given day, by anglers who are out to catch fish on their own time, to me is perfectly fine. Using the A-Rig in a tournament, I believe will have a greater impact from a negative standpoint than a positive one. Sure, it will increase sales of certain manufactures, but what about every other manufacturer who doesn’t make A-rigs and all the other baits we use? As tournament anglers, how are we gonna look our sponsors in the eye, continue to ask them to support us with the lures and baits they make, when every tournament angler will soon be using this rig exclusively?

What if this lure proves to continue to catch fish year round, and everyone in the field is tossing it? As bass fishing tournament anglers, do we all want to basically participate in A-rig tournaments only, where if yer not tossing this thing, yer just a donator? Rest assured, this thing will be just as effective in the spring when bass are spawning. Remember, only 30-40% of the fish in a lake spawn at the same time. They come in waves. That means 60-70% are out their susceptible to the A-rig. How many times has Dobyns won a spring time tournament, never targeting bed fish? This rig will catch those pre and post spawners, believe that. Comparing tournament fishing to other sports, I think is a lil farfetched. The tools we have at our disposal, unlike theirs, is unlimited. Why would we want to limit what the anglers are using? Basically that’s what would happen, anglers would be limited to “having” to use the A-rig to compete. I believe, bass fishing fans are more intrigued with seeing and learning about a wide array of tactics and the opportunity to be versatile. At some point, like the contestants, we will get bored and move on. Although, it would be very intriguing to sit and watch, waiting for that next cast that lands 5 fish that all cull and wins the tournament. But really, is that what we want out tournaments to turn into.  Culling is another complete issue, if you’ve already got a limit in the boat. Now what happens if ya pull 2-5 fish in at once? I see it now, a whole nother debate and push for changed regulations to govern this situation. Just not condusive to the sport in my mind.

Scott Martin, the FLWs Angler of The Year, made another great point in his seminar regarding his thoughts about this that I believe also are valid. The A-rig, is specifically used and effective to catch suspending fish. Fish that otherwise would be very difficult to catch. Suspending bass, by nature’s way,  are basically resting or recovering, attempting to escape harm’s way for whatever reason. The weekend crowd will be hammerin em and the tournament guys with their savvy are sure to find em even better. What affect will the constant onslaught of these fish being caught with the A-rig, have on our mortality of fishes in our fisheries?  Surely, there will be those arm chair anglers who will claim this to be no different than removing bed fish and relocating them, maybe rightfully so. Yet, It’s an interesting thought I had not seen discussed.

Bottom line is, it’s a rig of multiple lures, not a single lure. Tournament rules state we can only use an artificial lure. That rule’s intent, was for a single rod, and a single lure, not a rig full of several lures.  If the anglers who are fishing these high level tournaments, come together and decide they do not want this rig used in the events they are fishing, then so be it. It’s out of line for the rest of us arm chair anglers, to raise such a fuss about something we are not even going to be involved with.

For all the right reasons, I applaud BASS, Scott Martin and Mike Tuck for taking the stance they have regarding the Alabama rig. It is a rig, not a lure and if they choose not to have them used in their events, more power to em! As for the rest of us arm chair anglers, let’s go down, get in line, gobble em up and start tossin em, they are a fish catchin machine! I’ll still keep my Senko and jig rods on the deck though, 3 rods is perfect! HAR!